Though they never officially disbanded, Goatsnake have been dormant as a creative entity for 15 years, reuniting only for sporadic festival appearances.
Unusually, creative differences have played no part in this hiatus: rather, guitarist Greg Anderson has been occupied playing with his main band SunnO))), in addition to running Southern Lord records. Meanwhile, frontman Pete Stahl has been seeing the world as tour manager with Rival Sons, in addition to resurrecting DC hardcore stalwarts Scream.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Black Age Blues, then, is just how seamlessly this comeback album leads on from 2000’s Flower Of Disease.
Always prioritising actual songs above mere riff workouts, there’s a warm, fuzzy familiarity to Goatsnake’s doomy, bluesy sound, with Stahl’s stirring, soulful vocals always elevating these southern gothic rumbles above the mundane, not least on the striking and rather beautiful seven-minute closer A Killing Blues./o:p
